• Land Warfare

  Land Forces 2016: Supacat gobbles up Kiwi contest

  5th September 2016

  Supacat has scored again in Australasia, this time winning a contract from the New Zealand Ministry of Defence for special forces vehicles. New Zealand chose …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  UMS Skeldar has ‘an advantage’ in German Navy tender

  2nd September 2016

  As the expectation grows ahead of a German Navy tender for the procurement of a VTOL maritime UAS capability, officials at UMS Skeldar are confident …

• Training

  Virtual simulation – GAO’s blurry vision

  2nd September 2016

  The US Army has an inventory of more than 800 different types of virtual training devices that provide individual and collective training. The sheer size …

• Training

  KC-46 training centre set to open

  2nd September 2016

  The US Air Force has dedicated its new training centre for the KC-46 Pegasus aircraft ahead of the commencement of training of students. The centre, …

• Training

  CAE USA prepares for US Army training

  2nd September 2016

  CAE USA has begun training the initial cadre of instructor pilots on three new Grob G120TP aircraft for the US Army’s Fixed-Wing Flight Training programme. …

• Defence Helicopter

  Auditors savagely criticise Australian Tigers

  2nd September 2016

  Australia’s Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) fleet has come under severe criticism in a report issued by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) on 1 …

• Naval Warfare

  HII signs new contracts

  1st September 2016

  Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division has been awarded an $88.2 million fixed-price contract by the US Coast Guard (USCG) for the purchase of …

• Defence Helicopter

  Insurgencies shape ME rotary procurement

  1st September 2016

  Jordan’s geographical positioning in the Middle East is likely to be heavily influencing its military procurements in recent years. The country’s neighbouring borders are Iraq …

• Training

  US Navy test range centre breaks ground

  1st September 2016

  Construction of a new operations centre for the US Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division's (NAWCAD's) Atlantic Test Ranges (ATR) has officially begun with a …

• Land Warfare

  Saudi deal shines light on Yemen campaign

  1st September 2016

  The US State Department’s approval of another billion dollar arms deal to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has provided some rare insight into the country’s …

• Naval Warfare

  Raytheon mine-hunting sonar enhanced

  1st September 2016

  Raytheon and the US Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) – Division Newport are undertaking work to enhance the company’s AN/AQS-20A mine-hunting sonar, the company announced …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  USAF expands UAS pilot eligibility

  1st September 2016

  The US Air Force (USAF) has expanded eligibility requirements for its RQ-4 Global Hawk UAS pilot programme, with airmen in all air force specialty codes …

• Defence Helicopter

  Cobras over Sirte – AH-1Ws enter the conflict

  31st August 2016

  In an echo of the role British Apache attack helicopters played in the 2011 intervention in Libya, US Marine Corps (USMC) AH-1W Cobras have entered …

• Land Warfare

  MSPO 2016: NATO member receives Russian vehicles

  31st August 2016

  Slovakia has received a batch of Russian-made Tigr 4x4 armoured vehicles, according to the head of Russian’s Military Industrial Company (VGZ). Speaking to TASS news …

• Defence Helicopter

  Sensors heading for Middle Eastern UH-60s

  31st August 2016

  An undisclosed Middle Eastern country is to receive eight Wescam MX-10D EO/IR designating turrets, L-3 Communications has announced. The delivery of the payloads, which started …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  MQ-1 Gray Eagle [US Army]

  Background Required Quantity Although the US Army first envisioned a requirement for 132 MQ-1C Gray Eagles, the US Army's Army Acquisition Objective (AAO) was increased ...

• Main battle tanks

  NGCV: DLP

  Programme Background Requirement The DLP is one of five vehicle families being developed for the US Army's NGCV programme. Expanded to include five programmes in ...

• AGMV 1.1

  Programme Background The US Army has been seeking a lightweight, air-droppable, high mobility vehicle since as early as 2014, when it initiated its Ultra Light ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Heavy Lift VTOL (HVTOL) [US Army]

  Background USMC First, Army Second In September 2021, Kaman unveiled its Kargo UAV, specifically designed to meet the requirements of the Joint Tactical Autonomous Aerial Resupply ...

• APCs/IFVs - tracked

  AMPV [USA]

  Programme Background Platform Development The US Army initiated the AMPV programme to acquire a replacement for several variants of the M113 tracked APC, which has ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 2) [US Army]

  Programme Background Programme Objective The Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) was to provide a tactical ISTAR capability for US Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). It was intended to ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  JLTV Oshkosh Contract [US Army]

  Programme Background As of January 2021, the US DoD had signed 15 contracts with Oshkosh Defense covering the delivery of approximately 17,731 JLTVs to all ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) (Increment 1) [USA]

  Programme Background Programme Objective The Future Tactical UAS (FTUAS) was to provide a tactical ISTAR capability for US Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs). It was ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  Stryker (Sergeant Stout) [USA]

  Programme Background As part of the Army Transformation Initiative the US DoD is fundamentally reorganising the structure of the US Army. As part of this all Infantry ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-72 Follow On

  Programme Background In March 2019, Airbus stated that it expected orders from the US Army for between 12 and 15 UH-72A helicopters. In March 2020, ...

• Loitering munitions

  Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System (LMAMS) [US Army]

  Background First Contract In June 2011, the US awarded AeroVironment a $4.9 million series-production contract for the loitering munition, satisfying the US Army's Lethal Miniature ...

• Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) [Tranche 1] / Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) (USA)

  Programme Background The Rucksack Portable UAS (RPUAS) Programme The RPUAS programme will provide the Battalion and below-ground manoeuvre elements within the US Army with an ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Switchblade 300 (USA)

  Programme Background AeroVironment has been providing the Switchblade 300 loitering munition to the US Army under the long-standing Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile Systems (LMAMS) programme ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - MALE

  Group 4/5 UAV [US Army]

  Background Request for Information (RFI) On 5 June 2024, the American DoD published an RfI with an original response date of 19 July 2024. The ...

• Landing craft and hovercraft

  US Army Maneuver Support Vessel Light (MSVL)

  Programme BackgroundThe Maneuver Support Vessel (Light) or MSV(L) contract was awarded by the US Army to Vigor in 2017 and are being built to replace ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Air: helicopter flight simulators

  US Army AVCATT PDSS

  L3Harris Technologies is the prime contractor for the US Army’s Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainer (AVCATT) Post Deployment Software Support (PDSS) programme. L3Harris Technologies is ...

• Air: helicopter flight simulators

  US Army Flight School XXI OFT/RCTD

  L3Harris Technologies is a major subcontractor to CSC on the US Army’s Flight School XXI (FSXXI) programme. L3Harris Technologies has built or is under contract ...

• Maritime patrol

  US-2

  The ShinMaywa US-2 is an amphibious short take-off and landing aircraft used primarily by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) for SAR. 

• Military helicopters - scout/light attack

  OH-58 Kiowa

  The single-engine OH-58 Kiowa, derived from the Bell 206, entered US Army service in 1969 as a light observation helicopter. More than 2,200 were built for ...

• Towed guns

  M198

  The US Army developed the M198 155mm towed howitzer from 1969 to replace the M114 155mm howitzer. From 1978, 1,600 weapons were built by Rock ...

• Towed mortars

  M120/M120A1

  The M120/M120A1 120 mm Towed Mortar System is a US-built version of the Soltam K6 mortar that was accepted into US Army service in 1990.

• Light tanks

  M10 Booker

  The US Army awarded General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) a contract worth US$1.14 billion to supply 96 light tanks under the Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) ...

• JPT

  Designed for military applications, the Joint Platform Tablet (JPT) features a rugged design, including a military-grade aluminium case, dual-core processor, 128GB removable hard drive and ...

• Military helicopters - multirole

  UH-72A/B Lakota

  In 2006, the US Army selected a version of the medium-sized, twin-engine H145, designated the UH-72A Lakota,  to meet its requirement for a new Light ...

• Armoured engineer vehicles

  M1150 ABV

  The M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV) project, launched by the USMC in 2002, is a joint programme to meet the requirements of both the US ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  RQ-7 Shadow 200

  The Shadow 200, designated RQ-7B by the US Army, is flown by the army brigade combat teams and combat aviation brigades along with the UAV ...

• REBS

  The Rapidly Emplaced Bridge System (REBS) is a 13m dry-gap bridge. It was designed by GDELS to meet a US Army requirement to provide a ...

• Land: Electronic Attack - Jamming

  AN/PLQ-9 Thor-III

  Sierra Nevada’s AN/PLQ-9 Thor-III is the standard Counter Improvised Explosive Device (CIED) manpack system in service with the US Army and US Marine Corps (USMC). ...

• DSB

  WFEL was selected in 1996 to develop the M18 Dry Support Bridge (DSB) for the US Army. The company designed, manufactured and integrated the DSB ...

• Individual grenade launchers

  M320 GLM

  The M320 Grenade Launcher Module (GLM) is a further development of the HK AG36 (see separate entry) to meet a US Army requirement. The M320 ...